Steve Miller Band’s anthemic 1973 cut The Joker is notable for many things: coining the word ‘pompatus’, showcasing Miller’s tasteful electric guitar chops, and the excellent slide-guitar wolf whistle that follows the line ‘some people call me Maurice.’ And now one gallant YouTuber has taken the latter into the stratosphere.
Matthew McVickar’s totally unnecessary yet also quite, quite brilliant ‘remix’ of the iconic tune adds the wolf whistle after Every. Single. Line. That adds up to 49 wolf whistles in total, folks - 48 more than the original.
Of course, the video’s title refers to a ‘wah-wah sound’ when we know it’s really a slide guitar, but we’ll let that, erm, slide, because the resultant track had us in stitches.
To McVickar’s credit, the song does contain some superb wah pedal work during Miller’s solo - so superb, in fact, that we ranked The Joker among the greatest wah solos of all time for its restrained, laid-back approach.
The creator of this noble YouTube endeavor has also encouraged any fans of the new - and, let’s be honest, improved - Joker to donate $4.90, $14.90 or $49.00 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Advancement Project or a bail fund in your state.
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